Georges J. F. Kohler Biography

Georges J. F. Kohler was a German immunologist and biologist who received Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984 for his role in the development of monoclonal antibodies. He shared the prize with Cesar Milstein, a renowned immunologist and biochemist. Kohler tasted success early on in his career. He was merely 28 when he was selected for a postdoctoral fellowship at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. Kohler grabbed the opportunity and travelled to Cambridge in 1974. Same year, Kohler successfully invented a method of forcing immune system cells to make pure antibodies against a chosen antigen, instead of the profusion of different agents that usually greet an invading virus or bacterium. The discovery of the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies was revolutionary in the scientific world as it helped in the diagnosis of diseases and in carrying therapeutic agents to particular body tissues. Interestingly, though Kohler was the driving force behind the discovery, as he played a prominent role in conceiving and executing the experiment, he was written off by the scientific world who credited Milstein for the same. It was only in 1984 that his role in developing hybridomas was fully recognized and he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize along with Cesar Milstein.